Abstract

Equimolar FeCoCrNi alloys have been the topic of recent research as “high-entropy alloys,” where the name is derived from the high configurational entropy of mixing for a random solid solution. Despite their name, no systematic study of ordering in this alloy system has been performed to date. Here, we present results from anomalous x-ray scattering and neutron scattering on quenched and annealed samples. An alloy of FeNi3 was prepared in the same manner to act as a control. Evidence of long-range chemical ordering is clearly observed in the annealed FeNi3 sample from both experimental techniques. The FeCoCrNi sample given the same heat treatment lacks long-range chemical order.

Received 27 February 2012Accepted 06 June 2012Published online 20 June 2012

Acknowledgments:

Use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. A portion of this research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. This work benefitted from danse software developed under NSF Grant No. DMR-0520547.